The 35-year-old Spaniard, who has not raced since losing his Ducati ride at the end of 2006, has been at the centre of paddock speculation all year.
He was strongly linked to a shock mid-season return to the factory Ducati squad having tested for the team in early summer, but the struggling Marco Melandri ultimately held on to his seat for the remainder of the championship.
Gibernau's comeback will instead be with the new Onde 2000 operation, which will be run by Angel Nieto Jr and Pablo Nieto, sons of the legendary Angel Nieto.
A nine-team MotoGP race winner, Gibernau's finest moments came in 2003 and 2004, when he finished second in the championship behind Valentino Rossi while riding for Gresini Honda, but his career seemed to be over when he chose to retire after being dropped by Ducati following an injury-blighted 2006 season.
With Pramac Racing having confirmed today that they will continue to run two satellite Ducatis next season after signing MotoGP rookies Mika Kallio and Niccolo Canepa, Ducati will have five bikes on the 2009 grid.
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